CHAPTER FOUR

Couldn't resist. This is how much I love you ;)

Matthew, assuming that the wedding would take place over the whole weekend, packed for several days. He packed three suits, just in case. A light grey one, a dark grey one. Those would be for dinner and/or drinks. And a black tuxedo which was for the wedding itself. He had red cuff links, a red tie and a red cummerbund to match his suit which his father had passed down to him but still looked perfectly new. He hadn't bought anything new for the wedding except his shoes, which were laying, shining and bright, in his suitcase as he finally finished packing.

He walked down to his Toyota Corolla hatchback and slid his case into the boot, sighing as he slammed it shut. He hoped he wasn't making a mistake. He hadn't seen Mary since she'd asked him to come, because quite frankly he was still annoyed, even though he'd agreed in his mind that he'd do her this favor and, hey, he needed University fee's. But what if? What if she'd found someone else to take her? It wouldn't be difficult for her, he was sure she had 'suitors' falling over themselves at her feet. What if she'd told her sisters the truth and they'd forgiven her? What if she stuck her nose up at him and slammed the door in his face? What if she'd already left and he was driving to her appartment for absolutely no reason what so ever?

Well, it made no difference now. As he saw outside her building- which was much nicer than his own- he could feel himself getting rather hot under the collar and his palms were beginning to swear profusely. He hadn't felt this way since he'd been on his very first date, back when he was fifteen and still a young boy. Now, though, he was no longer a child and he knew that, one way or another, no matter what happened, the sun would shine tomorrow.

That was an old saying often used by Matthews mother in times of worry, doubt or sadness. He'd always found the words helpful and they always lifted his spirits, if only by one or two notches. Today though, they were the only thing that made him climb out of the car. As he approached the door of the building and opened it, stepping inside and breathing in deeply, the feeling of anticipation that had been growing since he made up his mind to accompany Mary made its way from his stomach to his throat, making it slightly difficult for him to breath.

Its all in your head, Matthew. He told himself and shook it off, knocking on Mary's door heavily once he stood outside of it. There were a few rattles from inside before the door was opened slightly and a wide, brown eye peeked out. Her hair was slightly tangled and she had a little sleep in the corner of her eye, which made him think he'd woken her up. Well, loud knocking came in handy sometimes.

"What do you want?" She asked, turning and walking further into the apartment, leaving the door open. Matthew took this as an invitation and stepped in through the buttercup yellow door.

The apartment smelled lovely, a soft scent of pine filling the air. One wall was completely covered in windows, giving it an airy feel as sunlight streamed through the windows and glinted off the immaculate, wooden floorboards. There were two white sofa's in front of the windows, their backs to them, facing a large, plasma television which sat on top of a small DVD cabinet. Matthew glanced around and saw Mary watching him.

She was stood in the kitchen area. The lounge and kitchen were the same room, but the difference was startling. While the lounge was all white, light colors, the kitchen tops were black marble and all of the appliances, from the kettle to the oven, were startlingly red. It was very chic.

When Matthews eyes travelled back to Mary,who was holding a cup of coffee, she raised her eyebrows and he remembered her earlier question.

"I'm here to take you to the wedding" He said, simply, and her eyebrows disappeared behind her fringe. She said nothing for a long while before she slammed down her cup on the side and walked away into a different room. Matthew heard her slam a door and quickly followed her. When he walked into the room that she had disappeared into, he saw that it was her bedroom. More reds and blacks.

"Leave'm alone, Matthew" He heard. Or at least, he thought he did. Mary's voice was muffled by the pillow she was laying on.

"Mary, I...I thought this would be good news" He said, thoroughly confused by her reaction. She sat up and he saw her eyes flash with fury.

"You left me almost an entire week thinking that I had offended you to the point of no return. I thought you hated me! How could you leave me with that guilt, Matthew?" She asked, and he just looked at her. Then he began to laugh.

"Can you yell at me in the car, please? You can either pack or I shall do it for you but you wanted to go to this darn wedding, so please." He saw a suitcase beneath the bed, pulled it out, sat it atop the quilt and unzipped it, flipping the lip open. "Pack."

XXX

When Matthew left her room, Mary sat staring at the door for a few moments, fury burning inside of her. Then it began to subside and the guilt returned. Why was he so nice? Perhaps, if he was uncaring and callous with her, she'd be much more inclined to accept his invitation but he wasn't. He was just too lovely! Letting out a yell of frustration, Mary threw her pillow at the door before jumping off her bed and beginning to throw thins, haphazardly into her case.

A few minutes later and her case was complete, the bag containing her dress laying beside it on the bed, her shoes with it. They were being heavily protected by a plastic box. They had to be in absolute perfect condition at the wedding. One flaw and...well, her family would have a field day. Mary stripped and had the quickest shower of her life, only half drying her hair so that, instead of its usual soft waves, it began to curl around her face. She didn't care, she'd sort it at the hotel. She only hoped they wouldn't bump into anyone before she had chance to fix herself up.

Dressed in a white dress, sandals and her denim jacket, Mary awkwardly made her way down to the car, wishing Matthew had the sense to offer to wait and carry her things down for her. Maneuvering the stairs with a suitcase, dress and a box of shoes wasn't the easiest job in the world but finally, she made it. Walking out into the carpark, she glanced around but could see nothing besides her own Aston Martin Vanquish and a little Toyota Corolla.

No...it couldn't be, could it?

It was. Matthew was sat in the Corolla, music playing, contemplating a book when she tapped on the window. He rolled it down and raised his eyebrows.

"Get out." She said and he looked confused so she opened the door to emphasize her point. "Get out!"

Then, without another word, she unlocked her Vanquish, walked over and put her things in the bin before climbing into the passenger side. Matthew was outside the car in seconds. He looked at her as if she'd just told him all of his Christmasses were coming at once this year and then hurried to put his own things in the trunk, settling into the drivers seat with an almost animalistic groan of satisfaction.

"This car is..well...it's..."

"Very expensive? Overly-ambitious? Eccentric?"

"Amazing!" Matthew breathed, his eyes sparkling as if he was looking upon something significant like the Holy Grail or the hand of Midas or the Loch-Ness-fricken-monster. She rolled her eyes. Men.